


we all need someone to hold

by pasty



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Developing Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, No Smut, Pining, might add graphic depictions of violence later, most likely not this time haha, street fighter ukai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 00:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6633535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pasty/pseuds/pasty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>beaten up and drunk off of his ass ukai is patched up by takeda and the two become friends and then they're gay - the fanfic</p><p>inspired by <a href="http://radio-silents.tumblr.com/tagged/street-fighter-au">this</a> fanart by <a href="http://radio-silents.tumblr.com/">becca / radio-silents</a> !!</p><p>alt titles:<br/>'ukai gets punched on the tit'<br/>'He Saw Him Struggling With His Keys - You Won't Believe What Happens Next'</p>
            </blockquote>





	we all need someone to hold

The sun has set and Takeda Ittetsu was finally heading home after a long day of work. He let out a yawn as he stretched his hand, closing his fingers into a fist and opening them again, slender fingers sore from grading tests. He rubbed the base of his thumb, the joint hurting a little.

 

     He walked in silence and lost in thought, not fully aware of where he was or where his legs were taking him. Only a few others wandered past him. Before Takeda thought twice, his legs had taken him to Foothills - the small store he frequented a few times a week, usually late at night on his way home like now. When he stepped in, the chilly air outside changed to warmth.

 

     The familiar blonde was once again sitting behind the register. He had rested his shin onto his knee, a newspaper spread out on his lap. Takeda was pretty sure the blond’s last name was Ukai; he didn't have a nametag, but some of the customers called him by the name. Ukai was easily recognizable - he had bleached hair and a few earrings, a permanent scowl, and more often than not a cigarette between his lips.

 

     The two exchanged a silent greeting as the brunet passed the register, heading straight to the snack aisle. After a couple of minutes, he heard quiet rustling from the register and saw Ukai take out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

 

     This time, the blond had a scabbed cut under his right eye and some bright purple bruises on his forearms, clearly visible with the sleeves of his hoodie pushed up to his elbows. It was hard to see from a distance, but as usual, his knuckles were scabbed with small cuts.

 

     The most likely cause for the marks were fighting, or rather, there wasn't any other cause that would've made much sense. The blond always had some bruises and minor wounds on him, and adding in the way he looked and seemed the type to get easily pissed off, he was intimidating.

 

     Yet Takeda knew better.

 

     After Ukai had puffed a few breaths of smoke, one of the regulars - an old woman - walked in. Without a second thought, the man put out his barely started cigarette and folded his newspaper in half, setting it down on the counter next to him.

 

     “Good evening”, the lady said, her voice worn with age but carrying a sense of dignity. She was smiling warmly. “Evening”, Ukai answered, his usual scowl quickly gone.

 

     ''I'll just have the regular”, the lady said, watching as the blond stood up, grabbed one of the baskets next to the front door and started collecting few items into it.

 

     “Oh!” she suddenly exclaimed, “I’ll take some of those pastries from last time too - my daughter is visiting again and she loved them.” Before the blond could put in even a single world, though, she continued talking. “My granddaughter is coming this time, too! Oh, she's grown into such a pretty little lady.”

 

     Takeda had heard the same words a couple of times before. Nearly every time the lady came to the store, she told Ukai about his daughter and granddaughter, praising them to no end. And the blond always listened, no matter how long she babbled. She was happy when he did.

 

     The brunet was still hanging around the snack aisle when Ukai passed by him, politely muttering a quiet ‘excuse me’ as he slipped past Takeda, holding the basket in front of himself to not hit the brunet with it. When Ukai passed by him, he could faintly smell the smell of cigarettes - and lavender?

 

     The teacher grabbed one of the neatly lined meat buns, slowly moving over to the fridge, half-listening in on the conversation between the two at the register. The old woman did most of the talking while Ukai chimed in every now and then, getting the lady chuckle a laugh a couple of times.

 

     This time she seemed to be in a hurry, not staying after Ukai had rung her up. As soon as she was out of the front door with a cheery goodbye, Ukai sat down again, lighting a new cigarette and opening up his magazine again.

 

     As he did, the brunet took one of the water bottles from the fridge and went to pay. When Ukai rung him up, Takeda stared at the blonde’s knuckles, a little curious about the reason why the clerk was always more or less beat up.

 

     He didn't ask, though. He hadn't asked before and he wouldn't ask now. With his purchases paid, Takeda was off, leaving the blonde alone with his magazine and cigarette smoke.

  
  
  


\-----

 

  
The next day - Friday - Takeda was walking home later than usual. The boys’ volleyball club’s practice had ran long as the teens had been put through rigorous training by their coach before their next tournament.

 

     He didn’t bother to cover the yawn that escaped from him. When he got closer to Foothills, he remembered the exchange between the store’s employee and the enthusiastic grandma, snorting a quiet laugh.

 

     It didn’t take long for him to reach the store. It was closed, though, the windows dark and nothing visible from the inside. Takeda had thought about getting something to nibble on as he walked home, but was now forced to abandon that thought.

 

     When he was about to leave the store behind him, he heard mumbling and cursing accompanied by dull thuds. He stopped in his tracks, squinting into the dark alleyway to try and see what was going on. It didn’t take him too long to notice the familiar blonde. He looked closer and noted that the blond was drunk off his ass.

 

     Ukai was jamming his keys into the lock on the door but was failing miserably. Every time the key scratched past the keyhole, he cursed. In the few seconds that Takeda stared at him, he counted five failed attempts. Curious but unsure if he should offer his help, the teacher took a step to the blonde’s direction. As he did, the gravel on the road made a noise, surprising both Ukai and Takeda himself.

 

     A slurred ’what’ emerged from the blonde as he turned to look at the brunet, leaning heavily against the wall, the street light making him squint. ’’Uh’’, Takeda started, ’’Do you need help?’’

 

     The blonde shifted his eyes between the teacher and the lock a few times, processing the question. ’’... No’’, he answered after a few seconds of silence and attempted to open the door again. He failed.

 

     Takeda watched him try a few times again, holding down a laugh. ’’Let me help’’, he said eventually, starting towards the narrow alley the blonde was standing in. When he got closer and Ukai turned to look at him, he noticed the blood on the blond’s temple. When he looked closer, he noticed that the his lip was split as well and the skin on his cheekbone was red and forming a bruise.

 

     Takeda was a couple of steps away when Ukai seemed to give up on trying to open the door, letting his hand fall to his side and somewhat trying to cover his bloodied face by turning to look at the door. ’’... What happened?’’ Takeda asked quietly, not sure if he should ask it at all.

 

     ’’Got my ass handed to me’’, Ukai answered, handing his keys to the brunet.

 

     Takeda wanted to ask questions, get more information on how it had happened, but decided to keep quiet for now. ’’The key for the door is the large one’’, Ukai said, gesturing towards the keys in the brunet’s hand.

 

     He picked out the large metallic key from the few keys the ring had, getting a nod from the blonde when showing it to him. With a quick motion, he opened the lock and left the door cracked open. ’’Here we go’’, he mumbled mainly to himself. ’’Do you need help with... those?’’ he asked Ukai, referring to the wounds on his face.

 

     The blonde thought about his answer for a few seconds, seemingly weighing his options. ’’Sure’’, he said eventually, pulling the door fully open and slipping past the brunet. Takeda could once again smell cigarettes and lavender, but this time accompanied by the reek of stale alcohol.

 

     ’’How badly did you get hurt?’’ Takeda asked, following Ukai inside and closing the door behind them. ’’Thoroughly’’, the blond answered and clicked the lights on. The room they were in was small and looked like a backroom for the store. There was a small counter with a sink and a microwave placed on top of it, a cabinet set on the wall above it with small glass windows showing few plates, glasses and mugs. A small square table was shoved into the corner with two plastic chairs. On the side, there was faded blue sofa which was barely large enough to lie on. On the floor in front of it was a worn out carpet.

 

     Ukai huffed a strained breath as he took off his hoodie. ’’Might have a cracked rib or something’’, he said, ’’Bruised, at least.’’

 

     ’’Wa- wait, cracked rib? Are you okay? How much does it hurt?’’ Takeda said quickly, nearly tripping over his words. His reaction got the blond to snort a little.

 

     ’’I’ll be fine’’, Ukai said calmly, taking off his t-shirt as well. ’’I won’t die, at least.’’

 

     The teacher quickly walked over to the blond, staring at his torso to try and see the damage. ’’What if it’s broken?’’ he asked, noticing the bright red mark about the size of his palm on the right side of Ukai’s ribcage.

 

     ’’Shouldn’t be since it hurts like hell if I try to look behind me. If it was, it wouldn’t hurt as much or at all’’, Ukai answered, tracing his fingers over the red mark. ’’There’s no weird lumps or anything, either’’, he continued. He himself wasn’t worried much, but the brunet seemed to worry for both of them. The thought got the blond to grin a little.

 

     ’’See for yourself, if you want’’, the blond said, moving his hand and arm away so that the other man was free to check for himself. The brunet gave him a suspicious look before placing the tips of his fingers onto the red mark and tracing them over it.

 

     When Takeda traced his fingers over the mark, he didn’t feel anything else but the lean muscle move under his fingertips as the blonde breathed calmly. Almost surprisingly calmly, considering the injury. ’’We need to ice it’’, Takeda said, pulling his hand back and breaking the touch.

 

     ’’There should be something in the freezer. Store side. If ya wouldn’t mind’’, Ukai said, adding in the words as the thoughts occurred to him.

 

     As Takeda went to get something icy, Ukai went to the employee bathroom and took out the small medkit shoved into the cabinet above the sink, throwing it onto the small table in the corner of the room. He ran himself a glass of water before sitting down. He took out the jar of pain killers and twisted the cap open, shaking a couple onto his palm. He took the pills one by one with large gulps of water, drinking the glass empty after taking both.

 

     He was sore and bruised all over, but the worst was his ribcage. He focused on taking as deep breaths as he could without causing himself too much pain. He’d have to call in a couple of favors since he probably wouldn’t be able to work for the next two or three days. He cursed the guys that had ganged up on him for petty revenge under his breath, tracing a finger over his split lip. A small bit of blood was smeared on his finger, which he wiped away by rubbing his fingers together.

 

     It didn’t take too long for Takeda to come back with a large bag of frozen - something. As he passed the sofa that Ukai had thrown his shirt and hoodie on, he grabbed the t-shirt and wrapped the peas into it. ’’Will you be okay?’’ he asked as he handed them to the blond.

 

     The blond took the makeshift ice bag and pressed it against his ribcage, flinching a little by the cold. He couldn’t help but chuckle a little seeing how the teacher was in full caretaker mode. ’’I’ll be fine after a couple of days of rest’’, he answered to the brunet’s question. ’’It’ll take longer than that to heal, though. Few weeks.’’

 

     Takeda’s brows were scrunched together with worry as he looked up and down the sitting blonde, watching for any more serious injuries. When he didn’t see any, he relaxed a little. ’’We should clean that cut too’’, he said, referring to the cut on the blond’s temple. ’’Rinsing it would be best...’’, he mumbled, thinking of ways to be able to do that. ’’Can you bend enough so that we could use the sink?’’

 

     ’’Probably. Though the bathroom sink has a small showerhead.’’

 

     ’’Then we’ll use that’’, the brunet said, heading towards the bathroom followed by the other man. The bathroom wasn’t very large, but since the cut was on the blond’s left temple - the side of the door when he was facing the sink - Takeda could stand halfway in the doorway. The blond handed him the showerhead and stepped back a little so the teacher could turn on the sink and adjust the temperature of the water. ’’It’ll be a little cold.’’

 

     ’’Don’t matter’’, the blonde answered and leaned down so his head was above the sink. His rib made him somewhat uncomfortable, but he gritted through it.

 

     ’’Close your eyes’’, Takeda said quietly as he moved some stray hairs away from the wound. He let the water run over the wound, gently scrubbing away the mostly dried blood bit by bit. When he was done and the wound was cleaned, he turned the tap off. ’’Okay’’, he said, the blonde straightening himself as he did, taking the showerhead from him and latching it onto the small handle on the wall. ’’It’s a pretty clean cut. Just keep it clean and let it be when it scabs.’’

 

     ’’Thanks’’, Ukai said, turning to look a the brunet. ’’I owe you one.’’ Takeda huffed a disagreeing breath, ’’I did nothing.’’

 

     ’’You fix up people often?’’ Ukai asked, genuinely curious.

 

     ’’Not really. Kids in the volleyball club sometimes if anything’’, the brunet answered, ’’I’m their faculty advisor.’’

 

     ’’Wait- so you’re a teacher? Not like, a teacher in training or something?’’ Ukai was left surprised by the brunet’s answer. He’d thought that the other was closer to his 20’s which would’ve made him younger than the blond. ’’How old are you?’’

 

     ’’... 29’’, the teacher answered, not new to the assumption of him being younger than he actually was, but it always was just a little bit frustrating. ’’I’m told I look young.’’

 

     ’’Well, you-’’, Ukai started, stopping for a second to properly think his words through before just spitting them out. He was actually three years older than him. He’d seen him the first time a long time ago, but never really talked to him. He’d assumed that he was a college kid or something.

 

     ’’Anyways’’, Ukai said after a second of silence. ’’I owe you one, --’’, he said, realizing something crucial - he didn’t know his helper’s name. He sighed heavily, which turned into a laughter ’’What’s your name?’’

 

     ’’Takeda Ittetsu’’, the teacher answered, smiling a little, ’’Nice to meet you.’’

 

     ’’Ukai Keishin’’, the blond said back. ’’I owe you one, Takeda. I’ll treat you to drinks or something.’’

 

     For a moment, Takeda thought about declining the offer. He hadn’t done anything, really. Just fetched some ice and rinsed out a small cut. His brows scrunched and lips thinned into a tentative look as he thought about his options: either he could spend an evening with a potential friend - or not. The decision was easy. ’’... Sure’’, he huffed as an answer after a few seconds of silence between them, his answer making a smile bordering a grin appear on Ukai’s lips.

  
  
  


\-----

  
  
  


     Takeda was on his third beer when Ukai put the DVD into the tray and pushed it in. The blond was one behind on the beer count, but both of them were getting drunk on a good pace. A weekafter their first proper meeting in, they were spending the night in the teacher’s flat.

 

     ’’Which movie was it again?’’ Takeda asked, sitting on the sofa. The blond soon joined him, letting his full weight plop down onto it. ’’I don’t remember’’, he answered even though he had checked the name only a few seconds ago. ’’Why’d you choose this one, anyways?’’

 

     ’’A friend recommended it’’, the brunet answered, his words slightly slurred. ’’Narrated some lines in dramatic voices too. Don’t remember them anymore, though.’’

 

     Around fifteen minutes into the movie, the blond to pipe up. ’’This is shit.’’

 

     ’’Uh-huh’’, the brunet hummed back and switched the TV to some random channel, lowering the volume to nearly silent. ’’What then?’’ he asked, turning to glance at the other man sitting beside him before downing large gulps of his beer.

 

     ’’Unless there’s anything on TV-’’, he said and finished his sentence with a shrug. When Takeda handed him the remote, he started lazily surfing through the channels to see what was on. A calm, cozy silence soon fell between them. Soon Takeda nearly nodded off, sunken deep into the sofa.

 

     ’’Question game’’, the brunet said suddenly.

 

     ’’What- why?’’ Ukai starts, ’’There’s only two of us.’’ He intentionally left out his second question of them being high schoolers or something.

 

     ’’Who cares’’, Takeda said, his voice almost surprisingly firm. ’’It’s fun, I don’t know anything about you, you don’t know a thing about me, it’s a good way to pass time.’’ It took the blond a few seconds of hesitation to agree. ’’I go first’’, Takeda said, lifting his legs onto the sofa with him. He turned so he was facing the other man, settling into a comfortable position. He took a sip of his beer, squinting over the can at the blond as he thought about his first question.

 

     ’’So’’, he finally says, ’’Why all the bruises?’’

 

     Ukai was caught off guard, his initial surprise soon changing to spurts a laughter. Straight to the business, then. ’’Fights’’, he answered. He’d forgotten about flipping through the channels a long time ago and now there was some obscure nature documentary on.

 

     ’’That’s it?’’ Takeda deadpanned, not even remotely satisfied with the answer he got.

 

     Ukai watched him for a moment, trying to decide if he should tell the brunet the details, wondering how he’d react to it. With disdain? Probably not. The more he thought about it, the surer he was about his decision. ’’Ever heard of people fighting against each other and others betting on the winner? It’s that.’’ He’d assumed the teacher would be at least a little surprised, but his words didn’t seem to get any sort of reaction. Instead, Takeda simply leaned his head sideways against the back of the sofa.

 

     ’’Really?’’ he half mumbled and stared at Ukai to see any hint of a lie. He didn’t see any. ’’Makes sense, I guess. What about that thing from last week? Is your rib okay?’’

 

     ’’I can work but I need to take painkillers. For what happened, that’s a bit of a long story.’’ It really wasn’t, but to Ukai, it was a little embarrassing. As the brunet kept silent and only stared at the man in front of him, the blond gave up. ’’Had a match three weeks ago against this one asshole - he wasn’t much. Office guy type but with an inflated ego. Beat him in two minutes and seems like he was petty enough to get revenge. Hoarded up a couple of his friends and ganged up on me - and the rest you should know.’’

 

     ’’That wasn’t a long story at all’’, Takeda commented, raising a laughter from the blond.

 

     ’’Is it my turn to ask questions now?’’ the blond asked, laughter rippling his voice. After getting an agreeing hum as an answer, he asked his first question. ’’What’s your favorite food?’’

 

     ’’Boring question”, the brunet grumbled, making Ukai laugh once again.

 

     Time passed as both of them asked different questions, ranging from favorite color to a question about any previous experience with martial arts - the answer was that as a kid Ukai had gone to a judo club and as a teen he’d switched over to kickboxing. By the time they were done with questions, Takeda had sunk deep into the sofa, his legs now propped over Ukai’s lap. He was about to open his seventh beer when his stomach grumbled.

 

     “Ya hungry?” the blond chuckled, sipping his fifth beer himself, the brunet’s answer obvious.

 

     ’’Very.’’

 

     ’’In that case-’’, Ukai started, lifted the brunet’s legs off of from his lap and stood up. ’’Food. You have anything in the fridge?’’ He headed for the kitchen, hearing a quiet groan and a thud as Takeda swung his feet onto the floor, following after him. The blond helped himself to the fridge, checking its contents for anything edible. There wasn’t much besides some instant meals. ’’Is it always this empty?’’

 

     Drunk and off balance, Takeda popped his head past the blond and looked into the fridge himself, borrowing the blond’s steadier balance by placing his palm on the his shoulder and leaning some of his weight against him. ’’Nope. I was going to go to the store tomorrow.’’

 

     Ukai took out two instant meals, checking the dates in case they were expired. When they weren’t, he closed the fridge and put the meals onto the counter. ’’Where are the plates?’’

 

     ’’Third cabinet from the left’’, the teacher answered, now leaning quite heavily against the counter. He was  _ wasted _ .

 

     The blond chuckled. Takeda gave him a suspicious look, opening his mouth to say something and holding out a finger in a somewhat scolding way. After a few seconds, he hadn’t managed to say anything, so he snapped his mouth shut.

 

     ‘’Just get us something to eat. No extra comments.’’

 

     ’’Then’’, the blond chuckled, pointing at the two meals on the counter. ‘’Which one do you want?’’ After a few seconds of furious thinking, Takeda pointed at the one on the left.

 

     ’’That one.’’

  
  


\-----

  
  


When Ukai woke up, the nausea hit him immediately. He winced, rolled to his side on the sofa and covered his mouth. It was too hot under the blanket, so he threw it off of himself, the fabric landing on Takeda with a soft thud. When the first wave of nausea had mostly passed, a sharp, hammering headache took its place.

 

     ‘’Takeda’’, he called, his voice nearly gone. He cleared his throat and tried again, this time with more results.

 

     The brunet stirred, frowned for a fraction of a second and opened his eyes. He rubbed his eye before stretching wholeheartedly while letting out a quiet, elongated groan. When he was done, he focused his eyes on the blond for the first time. ‘’Morning’’, he said.

 

     ‘’Mornin’’’, Ukai chuckled, amused by the brunet’s slow start.

 

     ‘’What time is it?’’ the teacher asked, moving the blanket off of himself and threw his feet onto the floor, getting up. He wobbled for a second, but quickly regained his balance.

 

     ‘’No idea’’, the blond answered, straightening his legs on the sofa and stretching them. He covered his face with his hands, sighing into them. No matter how little or how much he drank, he always had a hangover. Sure, it ranged from mild nausea to not moving from his bed for hours, but so far in his life there hadn’t been a morning without wanting to hurl at least a little. Ukai let his hands slide off of his face and turned to look at the brunet.

 

     Takeda was glancing around the room, seeing the mess the two had made the last night. Their plates and utensils were on the small coffee table along with empty bags of different snacks and the TV remote had half disappeared under the sofa. Some stray crumbs of food were scattered on the floor, mainly between the sofa and the coffee table. The last thing the brunet noticed were the two towers of cans piled behind Ukai’s head on the floor. ‘’What are those?’’ he asked, pointing at the towers.

 

     Ukai bent his neck to glance at them before laughing. ‘’The left one’s mine and the right’s yours. We started to pile ‘em up to see who’d manage to make a taller one.’’

 

     Takeda quietly counted the towers - his was eight cans tall while Ukai’s was seven. ‘’... We drank those all?’’ he asked, the question answered by laughter from the blond.

 

     “There should be an empty bottle of sake, too.”

 

     The brunet shook his head just a little before turning his attention from the towers to the worst sight in the room - Ukai himself sunken into the sofa. The blond looked much worse for wear than the previous night. He was pale, if not slightly green, half of his hair had escaped his headband and he looked like he’d barely slept despite the apparent nine hours of sleep they’d gotten - if the clock on the wall was to be trusted.

 

     ‘’You look like…’’, Takeda started, his lips thinning to a line, holding back a smile.

 

     ‘’Like shit’’, the blond laughed, finishing the other’s sentence. ‘’Feel like shit, too.’’

 

     ‘’Do you mind if I open the blinds?’’ the brunet asked, taking a step towards the windows on the side of the room.

 

     ‘’Don’t’’, Ukai answered before the teacher had time to take another step. His eyes hurt from just thinking about sunlight. He looked at Takeda, who was frozen mid step for a second. His shirt was loose from sleep and his already bird’s nest of a hair was even more so, but otherwise he looked fine. He didn’t even look tired. ‘’How aren’t you hangover?’’, he mumbled under his breath. The brunet had drank more than him- and he was smaller.just as much as him and more.

 

     Either Takeda didn’t hear his words or chose to ignore them. He turned around and walked past the blond, fetching a bottle of painkillers before going to the kitchen and running a glass of water. With both the items in hand, he returned to the blond. ‘’Here’’, he said, giving the items to the other man. ‘’You can hang around before heading home.’’

 

     “Thanks”, Ukai answered. He took the painkillers, downing as much water as he could with them.

 

     ’’You think you can handle food?’’ the brunet asked, starting to collect the trash into a plastic bag he’d fetched.

 

     Just the thought of eating anything made Ukai feel sick. He shook his head. ’’I’ll do with water.’’ He focused on keeping the contents of his stomach in as Takeda cleaned up the worst of the mess. In a couple of minutes, the room looked that much better. The only signs of the mess of last night were the can towers and Ukai.

 

     Letting out a small satisfied noise, Takeda disappeared into the kitchen.

 

     After Ukai had swore to himself that he’d never drink that much ever again - a promise he knew he’d break in no time - the brunet appeared again. Looking at him walk over to the sofa with toast in hand,  the blond just couldn’t believe how chipper the other man was, no matter how long he stared at him. He pulled his legs back to himself so the teacher would have room to sit down on the sofa.

 

     As he nibbled his toast, Takeda turned on the TV, leaving it on a channel showing a rerun of some drama. For a while, they were quiet. After the painkillers had turned the sharp hammering into a dull throbbing, the blond started nodding off. Before he could completely fall back asleep, though, he remembered the glass of water in his hands and jolted back awake.

 

     Ukai wasn’t sure how much time had passed that way, but Takeda had finished his breakfast by the time he spoke up. ‘’Do you mind if I ask something?’’

 

     The blond glanced at the teacher, noticing the slightly unsure look on his face. The brunet’s lips were a little bit pursed and brows knit closer together than usually. Ukai forced to hold back a smile. The look on the teacher’s face didn’t suit him.

 

     ‘’Shoot.’’

 

     ‘’The whole- fighting ring thing…’’ Takeda started, tasting the unfamiliar words on his tongue. They were harder to say sober than drunk. ‘’If you don’t mind me asking, why do you do it?’’

 

     Ukai rubbed his thumb against the tips of his fingers - the universal sign for money. ‘’It’s not like the store makes a ton.’’ 

 

     The brunet took a moment to ruminate on the answer, but seemed to form his opinion on the matter quite quickly. He turned to look at the blonde, a light smirk tugging the corners of his lips. ‘’What, ‘’spending money’’?’’ he asked, making air quotes.

 

     Ukai barked a laugh, sinking a little deeper into the sofa as he did. ‘’Exactly.’’

 

     ‘’Spend some money on a doctor.’’

 

     ‘’I can just call you, can’t I?’’

 

     ‘’An  _ actual doctor _ ’’, Takeda huffed, his smile betraying his attempt to seem dead serious. No matter how much he enjoyed spending time with Ukai, he hoped it’d entail less playing doctor in the future. The blond just chuckled at the brunet’s words, his smile mischievous and causing a kicking feeling appear in the pit of the teacher’s stomach. Before he had time to think about it in detail, though, he turned to look away, forcing his attention elsewhere.

 

     ‘’You up for breakfast yet?’’

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be like a 3k to 5k word oneshot and here i am sitting on top of a 5k word first chapter to most likely a three or four chapter fic and i just. fuck. fuck i fucked up.  
> first i planned to finish the whole thing first but honestly it's kinda weird to not have any feedback so mmm  
> the whole thing isn't done yet (sadly) but the second one is about half done and i'll try to update this with some sort of attempted schelude but idk yet how long it'll take to finish the next one/s
> 
> lmao anyways this is actually the first ukatake i've written and like, i did like ukatake and read a couple of fics before starting this but while writing this i somehow ended up to the bottom of this pit ?? ? idk how but here i am in ukatake hell hello


End file.
